Sourdough Discard Focaccia Recipe (Vegan, Egg Free, Dairy Free)
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Jump to RecipeThis vegan sourdough discard focaccia recipe is made with flour, olive oil, and sourdough starter discard. An easy no-knead sheet pan bread that is ready with an overnight rise.
I love how simple and easy this sourdough bread comes together – great for sandwiches, to serve with soup, or just a snack! This quick focaccia recipe is a great way to use up sourdough starter.
Want more tasty sourdough recipes? Try our sourdough panzanella salad, sourdough Hawaiian bread, and our favorite vegan sourdough bagels.
You know we love us some bread on this homestead! Aside from our weekend sourdough 101 easy bread recipe, I’ll get a little adventurous from time to time and bake some clay pot bread, vegan biscuits, or sourdough pizza dough. And decided to try sourdough focaccia for the first time….. and this was major winning recipe!
The entire sheet pan of this amazing sourdough discard focaccia lasted about 2 days… and there are only 2 people in the house. I loved eating mine with a little butter bean hummus and huckleberry jam – but you can add any toppings you prefer. Or keep it simple with a pat of salted butter.
Why This Recipe Works
- It’s herby, light, and delicious!
- The sourdough discard gives it amazing flavor.
- It’s vegan, vegetarian, dairy free, and egg free – a simple bread with pantry staple ingredients.
- It’s easy to make – this no knead focaccia can be successfully make by beginner bakers.
- A wonderful way to use up sourdough discard.
What’s In This Sourdough Starter Focaccia Bread Recipe?
Be sure to visit the recipe card below for full ingredient amounts and recipe instructions!
- Sourdough Starter Discard: you can buy sourdough starter here, or I have a great guide on how to make sourdough starter in just one week!
- All Purpose Flour: I normally use all purpose flour for all my recipes, I love the consistency and texture of the crumb this flour produces. If you want to keep it a little wholesome, you can use half whole wheat flour as well.
- Pink Himalayan Sea Salt
- Granulated sugar
- Water
- Extra virgin olive oil
Additions and Substitutions
- This sourdough discard focaccia recipe is a fantastic pantry-staple meal! It uses almost all ingredients you would have in your dry pantry or cupboards – most of which you probably have on hand. You can add yeast if you have a new sourdough starter, if you want a little extra rise.
- Instead of sugar you can use a plant-based alternative: maple syrup, agave nectar, or even honey.
- To add whole wheat flour, start by adding 50/50 white flour and whole wheat flour.
Baking Equipment Needed
- I use an extra large silicon baking mat to prep all my dough on. It’s super simple to use and easy to clean up (and doesn’t get flour all over your counters, highly recommended. There are a lot of baking mats, but this one is the largest I could find (2 x 3 feet!) and keeps the counters mess free… I absolutely love it!
- I’m all about hand-kneading, but I find that using this adjusted-measure rolling pin works particularly well. I like this rolling pin, which allows you to roll to the exact thickness you want. That way, you have nice even focaccia with the same dough thickness in each bite!
- For this focaccia, I like to use a simple baking sheet lined with parchment paper so the bread don’t stick. It’s super important to make sure you use parchment paper and not wax paper!
How To Make This Recipe
- In a large bowl, mix the sourdough starter, flour, salt, water, sugar, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Dough should be thick and sticky. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 9 to 12 hours overnight in a warm draft-free space.
- On a sheet pan, pour 1 tablespoon olive oil over dough on top and stretch the dough into a rectangle. Pour remaining olive oil on top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise again for 2 more hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Stretch the dough out to the sides of the sheet pan. Place your fingers down into the dough, making even dimples.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until golden brown on top. Brunch finished bread with a little olive oil, salt, or rosemary.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, I like using an instant yeast for my breads if I’m not using my sourdough starter, as the instant yeast gives a quick rise and adds great flavor.
The focaccia dough should be doubled in size and feel airy and light. It should also have visible bubbles, indicating it’s properly fermented.
Dense focaccia could be due to over-kneading the dough or not giving it enough time to rise. Make sure the dough has enough time to ferment and rise, and handle the dough gently during shaping. If using a sourdough starter, ensure it’s active and bubbly.
More Sourdough Discard Recipes
- Sourdough Brioche Bread Recipe
- Clay Pot Sourdough Bread
- Vegan Sourdough Naan
- Sourdough Pretzel Buns
- Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
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If you made this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you!
Sourdough Discard Focaccia (Egg Free/Vegan)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter discard
- 4 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon Sea Salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix the sourdough starter, flour, salt, water, granulated sugar, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Dough should be thick and sticky. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 9 to 12 hours overnight in a warm draft-free space.
- On a sheet pan, pour 1 tablespoon olive oil. Spread the dough on top and stretch into a rectangle. Pour remaining olive oil on top of the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise again for 2 more hours.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Stretch the dough out one more to the sides of the sheet pan. Place your fingers down into the dough, making even dimples.
- Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until golden brown on top. Brush finished bread with a little olive oil, salt, or a sprinkle of rosemary.
Notes
- This sourdough discard focaccia recipe is a fantastic pantry-staple meal! It uses almost all ingredients you would have in your dry pantry or cupboards – most of which you probably have on hand. You can add yeast if you have a new sourdough starter, if you want a little extra rise.
- Instead of sugar you can use a plant-based alternative: maple syrup, agave nectar, or even honey.
- To add whole wheat flour, start by adding 50/50 white flour and whole wheat flour.
Nutrition
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Always looking for good discard recipes and this is one. I sprinkled with rosemary, sea salt, pepper and more olive oil before I baked it and it came out delicious as well. Thanks for the recipe.
Yummy
Can I sub the agave syrup for honey?
Hi Elizabeth – Yes, you can try that. I haven’t baked the focaccia with honey, but if you do please let me know how it turns out and I can make it a note of it in the recipe card.
Thanks! Kelly
I appreciate that you’re not in the allergy game, but as an individual with a baby that is, I find your recipe misleading. Don’t label it gluten free/allergen free and then use sourdough starter that has the things we’re avoiding in them. I wasted 20 minutes reading your post with hopes of a food I can eat only to find that your recipe is mislabeled. Most are online, but as someone who’s never had issues and now can’t eat anything because of a baby who’d be sick all night/for weeks until it’s out of our systems-please change your title.
Hello Holly – I am a little confused, the title says egg and dairy free. Not gluten or allergy free. There is no mention that this is a gluten or allergy-friendly recipe anywhere in the post. There is gluten in the flour and in the sourdough starter. Searching for “gluten free focaccia” online may help you narrow down your results for your family’s specific needs, if that is what you are looking for. If this recipe came up in your search results, then it may be a search engine error and not an error with the title or recipe.
All the best,
Kelly
This came out amazingly and was so easy!
Thank you Cassandra, really glad you enjoyed this focaccia!
– Kelly
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
I can’t wait to try this! Does it work with most flavored oils?
This looks so good! What a great to still enjoy some bread & oil while sticking to the good stuff!